Future Skills 2030-Prepare for the 4th Industrial Revolution

Today we are at the early stages of what has been termed the 4th Industrial Revolution (also known as industry 4.0) – a period of rapid technological and economic transformation.  The world is on the brink of a scientific discovery revolution fueled by Artificial Intellience (AI). With its unique ability to process and organize vast amounts of data, AI-driven discoveries are poised to enhance disease management, introduce new materials, and deepen our understanding of the human body and mind. 

     “AI has the potential to transform every scientific discipline and many aspects of the way we conduct

      science”

     President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. (2024)

The full realization of Industry 4.0’s potential is an ongoing process, with advancements and integrations still unfolding in various sectors globally.  Today your smartphone holds millions of times more processing power than the NASA computers that sent Neil Armstrong to the moon in 1969!  Change is occurring swiftly, with new technologies and other factors like the green transition rapidly transforming the workplace.  The global pandemic in 2020 and 2021 further accelerated structural changes that were already underway in the global economy and placed an even greater imperative on reskilling.

One fundamental way that the world economy has changed, is to shift from tangible assets (“atoms”) to intangibles (“bit”).  This isn’t about some ‘far future’ of work.  In many ways the future is already here (but it is just not evenly distributed!). 

In 2024, a study by PwC revealed that nearly half (45%) of CEOs worldwide were of the opinion that their companies would not remain viable in a decade if they persisted with their existing strategies. This indicates an increasing concern among business leaders, as this percentage marked an increase from 39% the previous year. The urgency for transformation is becoming more pronounced. CEOs expect more pressure over the next three years than they experienced over the previous five from technology, climate change and nearly every other megatrend affecting global business.  As existential threats converge, many companies are taking steps to reinvent themselves and we, as individuals, need to do that too!

Research by Gallup in 2023 showed that 72% of Fortune 500 Chief human resources officers (CHROs) foresaw Artifificial Intelligence (AI) replacing jobs in their organization in the next three years.  Indeed, 2023 was the year when generative AI became mainstream.  ChatGPT launched on November 30th 2022 gained 100 million users in only 2 months!  ChatGPT quickly became the fastest-growing app in history – a record broken just a few months later by Meta’s Threads.  Advanced language models, such as ChatGPT now offer the ability to engage in meaningful, fluid conversations with an AI on any subject.  In the near future, professionals from any field will have access to a virtual expert on-demand. This tool can provide insights into diverse areas like marketing strategies, product design, legal issues, effective communication techniques, logistics, medical diagnostics, and more. It facilitates deep exploration and precise answers, drawing from the forefront of current knowledge and presenting them with nuanced understanding. Imagine having all global knowledge, industry best practices, historical precedents, and computational might at your fingertips, customized for your unique requirements and situation. Artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to reshape the global economy, especially in the realm of labor markets.  Generative AI is anticipated to affect skills once considered safe from automation, including knowledge work and decision-making. The disruptive potential of AI arises from its ability to operate without explicit instructions for specific tasks. Instead, it learns inductively by analyzing examples from vast datasets, using techniques like machine learning and neural networks  According to a survey of 1,406 executives by Boston Consulting Group (BCG, 2024), 89% rank AI and GenAI as a top-three tech priority for 2024, and 51% put it at the top of their list (cybersecurity and cloud computing are the other two top priorities). The emergence of this technology represents a monumental leap in cognitive capabilities, comparable to the advent of the internet.  Never before has such radical new technology gone from experimental prototype to consumer product so fast and at such scale.  We all need to become proficient at using these amazing new AI tools or be left behind!

The era of sticking to one job or career for life is over. The workplace is constantly evolving, requiring us to become adaptable and versatile in order to tackle the complex challenges of today and tomorrow.  Up to 49%  of workers could see significant changes in their jobs due to large language models like ChatGPT (Tyna Eloundou et. al, 2023).  Almost a third of employees (31 percent) believe that new technologies, like AI, will render their jobs obsolete (KPMG, 2024).  On May 1, 2023, IBM announced they were to pause their hiring and planned to replace 7,800 jobs with AI.  Changes are happening within jobs, in how workers do their work amidst evolving roles and changing skills needs.  On the other hand, about 60% of CEOs expect to see efficiency benefits from Generative AI, which could help relieve some routine burdens (PwC, 2024).  Gartner, for example predicts that GenAI will play a role in 70% of text- and data-heavy tasks by 2025, up from less than 10% in 2023.

According to McKinsey Global Institute (2023) the need for education has never been higher because the world is changing so fast and people need to learn new skills.  Workers in lower-wage jobs are up to 14 times more likely to need to change occupations than those in highest-wage positions, and most will need additional skills to do so successfully. Women are 1.5 times more likely to need to move into new occupations than men.  In the UK, City and Guilds found a third of Britons (34%) want to change careers, yet only 16% of respondents understand exactly how their skills would be useful in another career. 

Will you be left behind or will you be ready for change?  To be prepared for the future you have to understand it.  Will there be enough employment in the future, and if so what will that work be?  What skills are required as businesses adopt new technologies?  How should you upskill or reskill and what do these terms mean anyway?  Should you become an entrepreneur and start your own business to diversify your livelihood?  Should you develop a portfolio career with multiple sources of income?  Which occupations will thrive, and which ones will decline?  Where will the good jobs of the future be found? According to research in the USA by the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce, workers in STEM occupations (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics)will have the best chances of landing a good job in 2031, as as 9 out of 10 STEM jobs will be good.

The skills landscape is complex, and young people often struggle to access the high-quality career guidance they need to make well-informed decisions. There is a significant gap between the skills developed during school and college and those needed by future economies. The education system frequently focuses on academic subjects and written exams, which does not adequately prepare young people in essential skills such as teamwork, communication, creativity, or problem-solving. A survey in the UK revealed that only two out of five students felt that their school effectively supported them in developing the skills required for future success. Youth unemployment remains a pressing issue across many economies worldwide. Additionally, there is a notable mismatch between the skills available and those demanded in new and evolving sectors like green jobs and digital technology. Young people benefit from guidance in identifying potential career paths, with an understanding of skill demands playing a critical role in their decision-making process. A widely referenced forecast suggests that 65% of children entering primary school today will end up in job roles that do not yet exist. As a parent, how can you effectively guide your child through their career choices in such a rapidly changing environment?

So much is happening in today’s world, and people have so little time to become informed, that there is a widening knowledge gap.  This course gives you an overview of the different new technologies and other forces that are driving change in our world.  Once technological disruption takes place in an area, firms will require new skills to produce with the new technologies.  The course describes the skills you and your loved ones need to develop to survive and thrive in this new world of the 4th industrial revolution.  However, it’s not all about technology related skills.  In the context of technological disruption, human skills are very important too.  Costa et al., (2024) found that despite all the automation hype when it comes to direct contact with customers or colleagues, the ability to effectively manage relations at the personal level is still a skill that the majority of companies request.

     “Think about it: The pace of change has never been this fast, yet it will never be this slow again.”

     Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada, January 2018

In conclusion, now is not the time to sit back and passively wait for events to unfold. The world is changing at an unprecedented pace never seen before in history, driven by rapid advancements in technology, globalization, and shifting demographics. These changes are reshaping our world, rendering previously essential skills obsolete while new 21st Century skills emerge.  The future will be a challenge, but it is also a future of remarkable opportunities!

As the CEO of EnterpriseYOU, it’s vital to recognize that change is the only constant, and adaptation is crucial.  Given the unpredictable pace and nature of change we cannot assume what worked for us in the past will continue to work for us in the future.  If you aren’t dedicating a few hours each week to “sharpening the saw” and updating your skills, you risk falling behind.  Abraham Lincoln is often quoted for having said, “If I had eight hours to chop down a tree, I’d spend six sharpening my axe.” Educational attainment matters today, and will matter even more in the years ahead.  Consider what steps you need to take today to reinvent yourself or your business. How will you guide your children when they ask, “What should I be when I grow up?” What will you tell your partner, children, grandchildren, colleagues, friends, and neighbors about the future of work and the good jobs landscape?  They are not going to want to spend time and resources training for a career that might become obsolete in a few years.  They are going to want to know the promising occupations—good quality jobs or career paths that exhibit strong potential for growth and stability in the future.

Those individuals and organisations that understand the future of work, and prepare for it, will be the best placed to succeed. 

Welcome to Future Skills 2030-Prepare for the 4th Industrial Revolution!

Rating Distribution

• 1 stars: 59 votes
• 2 stars: 130 votes
• 3 stars: 791 votes
• 4 stars: 1899 votes
• 5 stars: 1916 votes

Frequently Asked Questions

How long do I have access to the course materials?

You can view and review the lecture materials indefinitely, like an on-demand channel.

Can I take my courses with me wherever I go?

Definitely! If you have an internet connection, courses on Udemy are available on any device at any time. If you don’t have an internet connection, some instructors also let their students download course lectures. That’s up to the instructor though, so make sure you get on their good side!